Rocker Doherty arrested after drugs photos

LONDON - British rock singer Pete Doherty was arrested on Saturday after a police investigation into a tabloid photo which the paper said showed him injecting drugs into a female fan's arm as she lay unconscious.

It was the latest brush with the law for the 27-year-old, who is more famous for his on-off relationship with supermodel Kate Moss and his public battle with hard drugs than as the frontman of punk outfit Babyshambles.

"A man aged 27 years old was arrested on a street in an east London borough on suspicion of administering a noxious substance recklessly," said a police spokesman.

"He is in custody at the police station and inquiries continue."

The Sun tabloid printed the picture saying it and another showing Doherty injecting himself with an unknown substance were taken at his home in Hackney, London, within the last five weeks.

Doherty has made a string of court appearances in recent months on drugs charges.

Last week he was arrested for suspected drug possession only hours after a judge spared him a jail term and ordered him to undergo rehabilitation for previous narcotics offences.

The pictures came seven months after the Sun's main British tabloid rival the Daily Mirror printed photographs apparently showing Moss snorting cocaine while Doherty and his bandmates recorded in a London studio.

Those images prompted several fashion houses to drop Moss, although her career has thrived since she left a drug rehabilitation center in the United States in October.

- REUTERS